Far to Seek eBook

“It happened out in the district. I heard
it from a friend.” She leaned nearer and
spoke in a confidential undertone. “He got
news that some neighbouring town was in a ferment.
Only a handful of Europeans there; an American mission;
and no troops. So the ‘mish’ people
begged him to come in and politely wave his official
wand. You must be very polite to badmashes[22]
these days, if you’re a mere Sahib; or you hear
of it from some little Tin God sitting safe in his
office, hundreds of miles away. Well, off he
went—­a twenty-mile drive; found the mission
in a flutter—­I don’t blame them—­armed
with rifles and revolvers; expecting-every-moment-to-be-their-next
sort of thing; and the town in an uproar. Some
religious tamasha. He talked like a father to
the headmen; and assured the ‘mish’ people
it would be all right.

“They begged him to stay and see them through.
So he said he would sleep at the dak bungalow.
‘All alone?’ they asked. ‘No
one to guard you?’ ‘Quite unnecessary,’
he said:—­and they were simply amazed!

“It was rather hot; so he had his bed put in
the garden. Then he sent for the leading men
and said: ’I hear there’s a disturbance
going on. I don’t intimate you have anything
to do with it. But you are responsible; and I
expect you to keep the people in hand. I’m
sleeping here to-night. If there is trouble,
you can report to me. But it is for you
to keep order in your own town.’

“They salaamed and departed. No one came
near him. And he drove off next morning, leaving
those Americans, with their rifles and revolvers, more
amazed than ever! I was told it made a great impression
on the natives, his sleeping alone in the garden,
without so much as a sentry. And the cream of
it is,” she added—­her eyes on Elton’s
unheroic figure—­“the man who could
do that is terrified of walking across a ballroom or
saying polite things to a woman!”

Distinctly, to-night, she was in a new vein, more
attractive to Roy than all her feminine crafts and
lures. Sitting, friendly and at ease over the
fire, they discussed human idiosyncrasies—­a
pet subject with him.

Then, suddenly, she looked him in the eyes;—­and
he was aware of her again, in the old disturbing way.

Yet she was merely remarking, with a small sigh, “You
can’t think how refreshing it is to get a little
real talk sometimes with a cultivated man who is neither
a soldier nor a civilian. Even in a big station,
we’re so boxed in with ‘shop’ and
personalities. The men are luckier. They
can escape now and then; shake off the women as one
shakes off burrs——!”

Another glance here; half sceptical, wholly captivating.

“It’s easier said than done,” admitted
Roy, recalling his own partial failure.

“Charming of you to confess it! Dare I
confess that I’ve found the Hall and the tennis
rather flat these few days—­without imperilling
your phenomenal modesty?”

“I think you dare.” It was he who
looked full at her now. “My modesty badly
needs bucking up—­this evening.”